"There are always games being played" - Cian Uijtdebroeks recalls 'overwhelming' day when BORA - hansgrohe publicly refused his transfer to Jumbo-Visma
Cycling
Cian Uijtdebroeks is now established and comfortable at Jumbo-Visma, soon to be Team Visma | Lease a Bike. However, the last few weeks have been a roller coaster, and he recalls BORA - hansgrohe's public post, alongside the eagerness to race with the Dutch team.
"That evening was overwhelming, because BORA-hansgrohe also knew that I had canceled my contract. That was very clear, you didn't have to be smart for that. There are always games being played, so to speak," Uijtdebroeks said at MOVE Amsterdam. "Many things have happened, but I don't want to go into detail about them. That is the best for everyone and out of respect for everyone. The wisest thing is not to focus too much on it and to leave the past behind us."
Right after Jumbo-Visma announced the surprising signing of Uijtdebroeks, who still had a year of contract left, the German team shared a statement on social media arguing that he would race for them. This led to a massive shockwave in the cycling world, and afterwards details were rumoured of a bad relationship between the Belgian and the team - which included a suspicion of the creation of a chat group during the Vuelta a Espana where some of his teammates talked about him, without his presence.
A departure looked clear, but not with immediate effect. "The last few months haven't been much fun, so it was a matter of seeing what would be best for me," Uijtdebroeks said, making it clear that this was the path to follow. "At the end of November I looked at the options, after which we decided to cancel the contract on December 1. There was a lot to do. I tried to keep myself out of it a bit, so it was good that I was in training camp. Then you are with the group, so I didn't try to read it all and mainly looked at the future."
In the meantime both teams have agreed on a signing sum to compensate for the departure of one of their riders, although not all details are public. The youngster is only thinking of his performance, and he has found his first impressions with the team overwhelmingly positive. "The philosophy to get better is complete here and that's also how I am, so it matches perfectly."
"I have only been with the team for a week, but everything was balanced and you feel a drive. I'm sitting here with 27 other Cians next to me," the Belgian said, continuing to argue that he is demanding but has been framed wrong recently: "What other people say… actually I am someone who is very easy-going, because I give a lot of feedback. That is positive for the team. If I improve, the team will also improve."
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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🇧🇪 Cian Uijtdebroeks in a Team Visma | Lease a Bike kit 👀
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